Blockchain VR/AR monetization platform Gaze Coin today announced its launch of the world’s first blockchain token for VR/AR based on gaze control/eye tracking and plans for a public Initial Coin Offering November 28. Gaze Coin is a breakthrough monetization, adtech and DRM solution for VR/AR, measuring and employing user gaze as a unit of exchange and digital record among advertisers, content owners/creators and users.

Using patent-registered technology combining gaze control/eye tracking with blockchain, Gaze Coin calculates the exact amount of time users spend looking at, interacting with, or being immersed inside VR/AR content. It then creates a micro-transaction that charges the advertiser for that time, pays the content owner/creator and rewards the user for consuming the content. The mechanic also works without an advertiser, in this case incentivizing content owners/creators and users from the Gaze Coin “user growth pool”. The transactions are handled seamlessly and securely in real-time using decentralized, immutable blockchain technology. The unit for currency, Gaze Coin token (GZE), is an Ethereum-based token which can be bought and sold in or out of VR/AR, and will be able to be exchanged for other Ethereum tokens.

“For too long, VR/AR monetization has been constrained by last-century models that work for web and mobile, but miss the mark terribly in VR/AR, where literally everything you see or touch can be monetized,” said Gaze Coin founder Jonny Peters. “We designed Gaze Coin to bridge the gap between the promise of virtual worlds and the ability for brands and content owners to capitalize on it, at the heart of how the medium is actually consumed.”

Gaze Coin overcomes many of the major current hurdles for advertisers in VR/AR, including the ability to calculate precise ROI on branded VR/AR campaigns, collect consumer behavior data in VR/AR and evolve the ad format from interruptive ads that obstruct immersion to more native, engaging formats. Gaze Coin also solves copyright tracking issues for content rights holders in VR/AR, allowing owners to track content throughout its lifecycle as it is consumed, changed (remixed, versioned, addended), licensed, transferred or sunsetted.

The company has also built a functional proof of concept and working demonstration of the platform within its interactive virtual world experience, Dream Channel VR, which featured at the Cannes Film Festival in May and will be available on Vive/SteamVR, Oculus Rift and Gear VR later this year.

To coincide with the ICO, Gaze Coin has welcomed world-class blockchain/cryptocurrency experts Evan Luthra, George Samman and Bok Khoo to its advisory and executive team, already comprised of award-winning immersive media producers and adtech/fintech execs, including Landon Curry and James Sugrue.

“As consumers increasingly embrace VR and AR, they expect brands and media companies to be there with innovative content to capture their imagination.” Peters continued. “Gaze Coin provides the infrastructural backbone of the VR/AR creative economy, delivering the security, parity, exchange mechanisms and material incentive for all stakeholders to ensure creativity can flourish.”

A full whitepaper with ICO details and a development roadmap as well as full SAFT information for qualified investors is available here

About Gaze Coin

Gaze Coin is a company and platform specifically designed to solve the monetization challenges of virtual worlds, bridging the gap between the promise of VR/AR and the ability for brands and content owners to capitalize on it. The Gaze Coin platform (token: GZE) is a patent-registered blockchain solution that securely stores ownership and transaction data about assets in virtual worlds and manages micropayments associated with content consumption. Gaze Coin also produces interactive virtual reality experiences and environments that employ its platform. Gaze Coin was founded in 2017 and is based in Sydney, Australia.